United Health Foundation Grant to American College of Physicians to Support Improved Care Delivery

Business Wire, March 20, 2008

Grant Will Develop "A Practice Improvement Workbook" as Part of the Foundation's Support for Medical Specialty Societies to Advance Medical Home Model

MINNEAPOLIS -- The United Health Foundation today announced a $49,970 grant to the American College of Physicians (ACP) to develop a new Practice Improvement Workbook to help internists and their staffs more consistently provide the preventive services and chronic care that are at the heart of the Patient-Centered Medical Home Model of care delivery. It emphasizes behavioral health support and patient education as well as the diagnosis and treatment of acute illnesses.

Today's grant is part of the Foundation's Advancing Clinical Excellence (ACE) program that will provide $500,000 in grants to medical specialty societies to assist them in enhancing the quality and efficiency of care delivery.

"This grant from the United Health Foundation will help ACP to continue designing and implementing practice-based resources in a variety of formats -- print, Web, CD/DVDs, audio, etc. -- that help internists and their office teams assess potential quality gaps and strengthen their performance on nationally accepted quality measures," said John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP, ACP's executive vice president and chief executive officer. "The patient-centered medical home is the future of health care."

"The ACP has a distinguished history in assisting physicians in improving the quality of clinical care delivered to our nation's patients, and this Workbook will be an important tool in that mission," said Reed Tuckson, M.D., a director of the United Health Foundation board and executive vice president and chief of medical affairs for UnitedHealth Group. "We are convinced that the College's experience in advancing the medical home delivery model will result in an innovative Workbook that will not only increase adoption of this comprehensive health delivery model but will produce tangible improvements in the care experienced by millions of patients."

The medical home model is a concept of primary clinical care organization that has been developed by American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and ACP. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a medical practice in which each patient has a personal relationship with a physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care. The personal physician leads a team of health care professionals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for treating and managing care of the whole person. Physicians in a PCMH use evidence-based medicine, clinical decision support, and health information systems to guide decision-making and assure that patients get indicated care.

"This grant will help primary care practices improve the way in which care is accessed and care processes are delivered and coordinated to improve the quality, satisfaction and affordability of health care," said Dawn Bazarko, RN, MPH, and senior vice president, clinical innovation, UnitedHealthcare. "Through efforts led by the ACP, primary care practices can become better equipped to meet the standards necessary to practice in new models, such as the Patient-Centered Medical Home."

Under the Foundation's ACE program, Grants were previously issued to the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Since 2000, the United Health Foundation has invested $42 million to help physicians and other health professionals advance clinical excellence. For example, the Foundation annually distributes Clinical Evidence, the prestigious British Medical Journal Publishing's guide to what works in clinical care to over 500,000 physicians.

About the American College of Physicians

The American College of Physicians (www.acponline.org), a leader in designing and implementing practice-based educational programs, is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 125,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internists specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illness in adults.

About United Health Foundation

The Foundation provides reliable information to support health and medical decisions that lead to better health outcomes and healthier communities. The Foundation also supports activities that expand access to quality health care for those in challenging circumstances and partners to improve the well being of communities. The Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded solely by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). For more information, visit www.unitedhealthfoundation.org.